Sister Cristina Scuccia is a winner of The Voice Italy

Oct 22, 2014 10:21 GMT  ·  By
Sister Cristina, winner of The Voice Italy, makes debut with single “Like a Virgin,” on which she puts a religious spin
   Sister Cristina, winner of The Voice Italy, makes debut with single “Like a Virgin,” on which she puts a religious spin

Earlier this year, a new viral star was born: a singing nun who had auditioned for The Voice Italy and blew the judges out of the water (and out of their seats) with her beautiful take on Alicia Keys’ “The One.” Her name is Suor Cristina, aka Sister Cristina Scuccia, and she’s just released her first single.

It’s not what you’d expect to hear from a nun, but Sister Cristina says the choice was entirely hers: it’s a cover of Madonna’s 1984 hit “Like a Virgin.”

You can hear Sister Cristina’s reinterpretation of the song, as well as see the official music video below.

Sister Cristina defends choice for her first single

A pop-singing nun interpreting Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” is an unexpected thing, but Sister Cristina says we should get our minds out of the gutter and look beyond the highly sexualized visuals proposed by Madonna in her own video.

“Like a Virgin” is a song about the healing power of love. The video, on the other hand, plays like a love dedication to God. It was shot in full in Venice, just like Madonna’s original.

“I chose it. With no intention to provoke or scandalize,” Sister Cristina says, as cited by the Daily Beast. “Reading the text, without being influenced by previous interpretations, you discover that it is a song about the power of love to renew people.”

“To rescue them from their past. And this is the way that I wanted to interpret it. For this reason we have transformed this song from the pop-dance piece which it was, into a romantic ballad, a bit like the ones by Amos Lee. Something more similar to a lay prayer, than to a pop piece,” she continues.

This is the first single off her debut album, which will be out in November 2014 and will include only covers. Perhaps, in time, Sister Cristina will get to record her own music, but right now, she needs to release something quick, fresh off her win on the TV show.

Fame is weighing down on Sister Cristina but she’ll play the game either way

When Sister Cristina says she understands the song as a story of how love can help someone break free from a troubled past, she speaks from experience. She became a nun with the Ursuline Sisters of the Holy Family in 2010, having had a very troubled adolescence.

She’s no longer troubled today, but she still sings. Sister Cristina reveals that she finds the whole fame game a bit too much for her but she’s willing to play it because she knows it will mean a sure cash infusion for her order, money that will be used to do good within the community.

“I feel the almost morbid curiosity of the media as a weight on my back,” Sister Cristina muses. “I made a vow of poverty, [so] we will use all the money earned in the congregation’s projects.”

During the most recent season of The Voice, which she won, Sister Cristina hinted that she might turn down the offer for a record deal from Universal, which came with the package for the big prize. She probably changed her mind thinking how much money she could make and how it would be of help in her and her order’s projects.